Clippers once again turn up the D against Magic

The Los Angeles Clippers played one of their best defensive games of the season to beat the Orlando Magic 106-96 at home Sunday afternoon.

The Clippers are 24th in defense, giving up an average of 114.7 points per game, but they held the Magic to 37.1-percent shooting from the floor. It was the lowest point total for a Clipper opponent in 30 games, dating back to a 120-95 win on Nov. 2 -- also against Orlando.

Tobias Harris had 28 points and nine rebounds, and Lou Williams scored 17 off the bench for the Clippers, who have won six of their last nine.

Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 24 rebounds in the loss. The Magic have lost three of their last four and seven of their last 10 games.

Los Angeles trailed the entire first half, but gained the lead in the third quarter and turned it on in the fourth.

The game was tied at 72 with 10:22 left in the fourth, but the Clippers outscored the Magic 34-24 the rest of the way.

The Clippers grabbed the lead early in the third quarter, when Marcin Gortat hit a jumper to make it 50-49 with 10:12 left in the third. Los Angeles extended its lead to 10 points until Orlando closed the gap with a 14-7 run at the end of the third.

Orlando's 15-point lead early in the second quarter dwindled to a 47-45 lead by halftime. Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field in the first half.

Orlando steadily built a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter and scored seven straight points early in second to take a 35-20 lead. But Harris scored 10 straight as part of an 18-4 run that brought the Clippers back into the game.

Vucevic already had a double-double by halftime with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Orlando made only 4 of 15 of its 3s in the first half.

The Magic play the second leg of a back-to-back Monday in Sacramento, and then finish up their six-game road trip Wednesday in Utah. The Clippers host Charlotte on Tuesday and play five of their next six games at home.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)